Daily AncestorProvost marshal
In American records a provost marshal is usually the army officer who ran the draft in a district and arrested deserters, under the Provost Marshal General.
Congress created the Provost Marshal General's Bureau in March 1863. Each congressional district had a provost marshal heading an enrollment board with a surgeon and a commissioner. The bureau arrested deserters, enrolled men for the draft, enlisted volunteers and gathered statistics on recruits' physical condition.
In World War I the Provost Marshal General's office again oversaw the Selective Service System. Civil War district records, in NARA Record Group 110, include enrollment lists, lists of substitutes and records of exemptions.
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Daily Ancestor. "Provost marshal." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/provost-marshal. Last checked 2026-10-03.